View source for Tony Hancock

{{short description|English actor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name                   = Tony Hancock
| image                  = tony-hancock.jpg
| imagesize              = 
| caption                = Hancock c. 1963
| birth_name             = Anthony John Hancock
| birth_date             = {{birth date|1924|05|12|df=y}}
| birth_place            = [[w:Hall Green|Hall Green]], [[w:Birmingham|Birmingham]], England
| death_date             = {{death date and age|1968|06|25|1924|05|12|df=y}}
| death_place            = [[w:Bellevue Hill, Sydney|Bellevue Hill]], Australia
| occupation             = Actor, comedian
| years_active           = 1942–1968
| spouse                 = {{ubl | {{marriage|Cicely J. E. Romanis|1950|1965|reason=divorce}} | {{marriage|[[w:Freddie Ross Hancock|Freda "Freddie" Ross]]|1965|1968|reason=divorce}} }}
}}

'''Anthony John Hancock''' (12 May 1924 &ndash; 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor.<ref>{{cite web|last=Oliver|first=John|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/482568/|title=Hancock, Tony (1924-1968)|work=BFI Screenonline|date=2003–14|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref>

High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, then on television from 1956, in which he soon formed a strong professional and personal bond with comic actor [[Sid James]]. Although Hancock's decision to cease working with James, when it became known in early 1960,<ref>John Fisher ''Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography'', London: Harper Collins, 2008, p. 289</ref> disappointed many at the time, his last BBC series in 1961 contains some of his best-remembered work (including "[[The Blood Donor]]" and "[[The Radio Ham]]"). After breaking with his scriptwriters [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton and Alan Simpson]] later that year, his career declined.

==Early life and career==
Hancock was born in Southam Road, [[w:Hall Green|Hall Green]], [[w:Birmingham|Birmingham]] (then in  [[w:Warwickshire|Warwickshire]]),<ref>GRO Register of Births: JUN 1924 6d 231 KINGS N. - Anthony J. Hancock, mmn = Thomas</ref> but, from the age of three, he was brought up in [[w:Bournemouth|Bournemouth]] (then in [[w:Hampshire|Hampshire]]), where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in Holdenhurst Road, worked as a comedian and entertainer.

After his father's death in 1934, Hancock and his brothers<ref>[[w:Anthony Hayward|]] [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/roger-hancock-agent-who-guided-many-showbiz-careers-and-protected-the-legacy-of-his-brother-tony-2313129.html Obituary: Roger Hancock obituary], ''The Independent'', 14 July 2011</ref> lived with their mother and stepfather Robert Gordon Walker<ref>Bournemouth electoral Register 1938</ref> at a small hotel called Durlston Court, in Gervis Road, Bournemouth. He attended Durlston Court Preparatory School, part of Durlston boarding school near [[w:Swanage|Swanage]] (the name of which his parents adopted for their hotel) and [[w:Bradfield College|Bradfield College]] in [[w:Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], but left school at the age of fifteen.

In 1942, during the [[w:Second World War|Second World War]], Hancock joined the [[w:RAF Regiment|RAF Regiment]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fisher|first1=John|title=Tony Hancock|date=2008|publisher=Harper Collins|location=London|isbn=978-0 00-726678-4|pages=72–77|chapter=3. Remember Gibraltar?}}</ref> Following a failed audition for the [[w:Entertainments National Service Association|Entertainments National Service Association]] (ENSA), he ended up on the ''[[w:Ralph Reader|Ralph Reader]] [[w:Gang Show|Gang Show]]'' touring production of "Wings".<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=June 19, 1947 |page=9}}</ref> After the war, he returned to the stage and eventually worked as resident comedian at the [[w:Windmill Theatre|Windmill Theatre]], a venue which helped to launch the careers of many comedians at the time. A favourable press review of his work at the Windmill was seen in July 1948. "But mention must made of a new young comedian…who with a piano partner, gives some brilliant thumbnail impressions of a “dud” concert party."<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=July 13, 1948 |page=3}}</ref> He took part in radio shows such as ''[[Workers' Playtime (radio programme)|Workers' Playtime]]''<ref>{{cite journal |title=Coventry Evening Telegraph |journal=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=January 24, 1950 |page=4}}</ref> and ''[[Variety Bandbox]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bognor Regis Observer |journal=Bognor Regis Observer |date=June 11, 1949 |page=1}}</ref> In July 1949, he was praised for his work in the summer presentation of "Flotsam's Follies" at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Bognor Regis.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=July 7, 1949 |page=4}}</ref> Christmas 1949 saw him in the part of "Buttons" in the Cinderella pantomime at the Royal Artillery, Woolwich.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=December 8, 1949 |page=6}}</ref> In June 1950, he opened in the "Ocean Revue" at the Ocean, Clacton Pier<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=June 22, 1950 |page=6}}</ref> which ran for three months. At Christmas 1950, Hancock was in the "Red Riding Hood" pantomime at the Theatre Royal Nottingham playing the part of Jolly Jenkins, the Baron's page.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Nottingham Evening Post |journal=Nottingham Evening Post |date=November 20, 1950 |page=5}}</ref>

Between 1951–52, for one series beginning on August 3, 1951,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Yorkshire Evening Post |journal=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=July 21, 1951 |page=5}}</ref> Hancock was a cast member of ''[[Educating Archie]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frasier|first1=David|title=Suicide in the entertainment industry|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson|isbn=9780786410385|page=132}}</ref> in which he mainly played the tutor (or foil) to the nominal star, a ventriloquist's dummy. His appearance in this radio show brought him national recognition, and a catchphrase he used frequently in the show, "Flippin' kids!", became popular parlance. The same year, he began to make regular appearances on [[w:BBC Television|BBC Television]]'s [[w:light entertainment|light entertainment]] show ''[[w:Kaleidoscope (television)|Kaleidoscope]]'', and almost starred in his own series to be written by [[Larry Stephens]], Hancock's best man at his first wedding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/000001940/forgotten_tony_hancock_script_larry_stephens/|title=Forgotten Hancock script rediscovered|website=British Comedy Guide|date=3 November 2015|access-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> In 1954, he was given his own eponymous [[w:BBC|BBC]] radio show, ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]''.

==Peak years==
Working with scripts from [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton and Alan Simpson]], ''Hancock's Half Hour'' lasted for seven years and over a hundred episodes in its radio form, and, from 1956, ran concurrently with an equally successful BBC television series with the same name. The show starred Hancock as "Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock", living in the shabby "23 Railway Cuttings" in [[w:East Cheam|East Cheam]]. Most episodes portrayed his everyday life as a struggling comedian with aspirations toward straight acting. Some episodes, however, changed this to show him as being a successful actor and/or comedian, or occasionally as having a different career completely, such as a struggling (and incompetent) barrister.<ref>"The Lawyer: The Crown v James S: Hancock QC Defending", series 3 programme 9, BBC-TV, 2 December 1957</ref> Radio episodes were prone to more surreal storylines, which would have been impractical on television, such as Hancock buying a puppy that grows to be as tall as himself.

[[Sid James|Sidney James]] featured in both the radio and TV versions, while the radio version also included regulars [[Bill Kerr]], [[Kenneth Williams]] and, successively, [[Moira Lister]], [[Andrée Melly]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/andree.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010819095822/http://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/andree.html|title=Biography of Andrée Melly|archive-date=19 August 2001}}</ref> and [[Hattie Jacques]]. The series rejected the variety format then dominant in British radio comedy and instead used a form drawn more from everyday life: the [[w:situation comedy|situation comedy]], with the humour coming from the characters and the circumstances in which they find themselves. Owing to a contractual wrangle with producer [[w:Jack Hylton|Jack Hylton]], Hancock had an [[w:ITV (TV network)|ITV]] series, ''[[The Tony Hancock Show]]'', during this period, which ran in 1956-57.

During the run of his BBC radio and television series, Hancock became an enormous star in Britain. Unlike most other comedians at the time, he was able to clear the streets while families gathered together to listen to the eagerly awaited episodes. His character changed slightly over the series, but even in the earliest episodes the key facets of "the lad himself" were evident. "Sunday Afternoon at Home" and "The Wild Man of the Woods" were top-rating shows and were later released on an [[w:LP record|LP record]].

As an actor with considerable experience in films, Sidney James became more important to the show when the television version began. The regular cast was reduced to just the two men, allowing the humour to come from the interaction between them. James's character was the realist of the two, puncturing Hancock's pretensions. His character would often be dishonest and exploit Hancock's apparent gullibility during the radio series, but in the television version there appeared to be a more genuine friendship between them. Hancock's highly-strung personality made the demands of live broadcasts a constant worry, with the result that, starting from the autumn 1959 series, all episodes of the series were recorded before transmission. Up until then, every British television comedy show had been performed live, owing to the technical limitations of the time. He was also the first performer to receive a £1,000 fee for his performances in a half-hour show.

Hancock became anxious that his work with James was turning them into a double act, and he told close associates in late 1959, just after the fifth television series had finished being recorded, that he would end his professional association with Sid James after a final series.<ref>Fisher, pp. 282-83</ref> Hancock left others to tell James.<ref>Fisher, p. 287</ref> His last BBC series in 1961, retitled simply ''Hancock'', was without James. Two episodes are among his best-remembered: "[[The Blood Donor]]", in which he goes to a clinic to give blood, contains some famous lines, including "I don't mind giving a reasonable amount, but a pint! That's very nearly an armful!"; in "[[The Radio Ham]]", Hancock plays an [[w:amateur radio|amateur radio]] enthusiast who receives a mayday call from a yachtsman in distress, but his incompetence prevents him from taking his position. Both of these programmes were re-recorded a few months later for a commercial 1961 LP, produced in the same manner as the radio episodes.

Returning home with his wife from recording "[[The Bowmans]]", an episode based around a parody of ''[[w:The Archers|The Archers]]'', Hancock was involved in a car accident and was thrown through the windscreen. He was not badly hurt, but suffered concussion and was unable to learn his lines for "The Blood Donor", the next show due to be recorded. The result was that his performance depended on the use of [[w:teleprompter|teleprompter]]s, and he is seen looking away from other actors when delivering lines. From this time onwards, Hancock came to rely on teleprompters instead of learning scripts whenever he had career difficulties.

==Introspection==
In early 1960, Hancock appeared on the BBC's ''[[w:Face to Face (British TV series)|Face to Face]]'', a half-hour in-depth interview programme conducted by former Labour MP [[w:John Freeman (British politician)|John Freeman]]. Freeman asked Hancock many soul-searching questions about his life and work. Hancock, who deeply admired his interviewer, often appeared uncomfortable with the questions, but answered them frankly and honestly. Hancock had always been highly self-critical, and it is often argued that this interview heightened this tendency, contributing to his later difficulties. According to Roger, his brother, "It was the biggest mistake he ever made. I think it all started from that really. ...Self-analysis - that was his killer."<ref>Quoted in Fisher, p. 272</ref>

Cited as evidence is his gradual [[w:ostracism|ostracism]] of those who contributed to his success, such as Sidney James and his scriptwriters, Galton and Simpson. His reasoning was that, to refine his craft, he had to ditch catch-phrases and become realistic. He argued, for example, that whenever an ad-hoc character was needed, such as a policeman, it would be played by someone like [[Kenneth Williams]], who would appear with his well-known oily catchphrase 'Good evening'. Hancock believed the comedy suffered because people did not believe in the policeman, knowing it was just Williams doing a funny voice.<ref name="H&N"/>

==Break with Galton and Simpson==
{{Further|Hancock (1963 TV series)}}
Hancock starred in the film ''[[w:The Rebel (1961 film)|The Rebel]]'' (1961), in which he plays the role of an office worker-turned-artist who finds himself successful after a move to [[w:Paris|Paris]], but only as the result of mistaken identity. Although a success in Britain, the film was not well received in the United States: owing to the existence of a contemporary [[w:the Rebel (American TV series)|television series of the same name]], the film had to be retitled, and the new title, ''Call Me Genius'', inflamed American critics. [[w:Bosley Crowther|Bosley Crowther]] in ''[[w:The New York Times|The New York Times]]'' thought Hancock "even less comical" than [[Norman Wisdom]].<ref>Bosley Crowther [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E3DE143CEE32A25754C1A9669D946091D6CF "Screen: A British Comic:Tony Hancock Stars in 'Call Me Genius'", ''New York Times'', 17 October 1961.]</ref>

His break with Galton and Simpson took place at a meeting held in October 1961, where he also broke with his long-term agent [[Beryl Vertue]]. During the previous six months, the writers had developed – without payment and in consultation with the comedian – three scripts for Hancock's second starring film vehicle. Worried that the projects were wrong for him, the first two had been abandoned incomplete; the third was written to completion at the writers' insistence, only for Hancock to reject it. It is believed that he had not read any of the screenplays. The result of the break was that he chose to separately develop something previously discussed, and the writers were ultimately commissioned to write a ''Comedy Playhouse'' series for the BBC, one of which, "The Offer", emerged as the pilot for ''[[Steptoe and Son]]''. That "something previously discussed" became ''The Punch and Judy Man'', for which Hancock hired writer Philip Oakes, who moved in with the comedian to co-write the screenplay.<ref name="H&N" />

In ''[[The Punch and Judy Man]]'' (1963), Hancock plays a struggling seaside entertainer who dreams of a better life; [[w:Sylvia Syms|Sylvia Syms]] plays his nagging social climber of a wife, and [[John Le Mesurier]] a sand sculptor. The extent to which the character played by Hancock had merged with his real personality is clear in the film, which owes much to his memories of his childhood in Bournemouth.<ref name="H&N" />

== Later years ==
Hancock moved to [[w:Associated TeleVision|ATV]] in 1962 with different writers, though Oakes, retained as an advisor, disagreed over script ideas and the two men severed their professional (but not personal) relationship. The initial writer of Hancock's ATV series, Godfrey Harrison, had scripted the successful [[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]] radio series ''A Life Of Bliss'', and also Hancock's first regular television appearances on ''Fools Rush In'' (a segment of ''[[w:Kaleidoscope (TV series)|Kaleidoscope]]'') more than a decade earlier. Harrison had trouble meeting deadlines, so other writers were commissioned, including [[Terry Nation]].<ref>[http://www.thekettering.co.uk/ Kettering Magazine] Issue No. 2 p5; ''Hancock At ATV''</ref>
 
The [[Hancock (1963 TV series)|ATV series]] was transmitted in early 1963, on the same evenings as the second series of ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'', written by Hancock's former writers, Galton and Simpson. Critical comparisons did not favour Hancock's series. Around 1965, Hancock made a series of 11 television adverts<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnLyqBtU_F8  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/JnLyqBtU_F8| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=TV adverts |publisher=YouTube |access-date=2011-02-16}}{{cbignore}}</ref> for the Egg Marketing Board. Hancock starred in the adverts with [[Patricia Hayes]] as the character "Mrs Cravatte" in an attempt to revive the Galton and Simpson style of scripts. Slightly earlier, in 1963, he had featured in a spoof ''Hancock Report'' – hired by [[w:Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching|Lord Beeching]] to promote [[w:Beeching cuts|his plan to reduce railway mileage]] in advertisements. Hancock reportedly wanted to be paid what Beeching was paid annually – £34,000; he was offered half that amount for his services.<ref>BBC TV, ''Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails''.</ref>

Hancock continued to make regular appearances on British television until 1967, including a 50 minute show for BBC2 from the Royal Festival Hall, which was poorly-received. By then his alcoholism was seriously affecting his performances. Two unsuccessful variety series for [[w:ABC Weekend TV|ABC Weekend TV]], ''The Blackpool Show'' (1966) and ''Hancock's'' (1967), were his last work for British television. He tried a role in a Disney film - ''[[w:The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin|The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin]]'' - but was sacked after reportedly having trouble with the mock-Shakespearian dialogue. He collapsed with a liver attack on 1 January 1967 and was told he would die within three months if he continued drinking.<ref>Fisher, John ''Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography'' (2008) p. 439</ref>  In December 1967, while recovering from a broken rib from a drunken fall, he became ill with [[w:pneumonia|pneumonia]].<ref>Fisher, John ''Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography'' (2008) p. 454</ref> His final television appearances were in Australia under a contract to make a 13-part series for the [[w:Seven Network|Seven Network]]. However, after arriving in Australia in March 1968, only three programmes were completed and remained unaired for nearly four years. These shows are the only existing television footage of him in colour, as all his shows up to this point had been made for black-and-white television.

== Personal life ==
In June 1950 Hancock married Cicely Romanis,<ref>GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1950 5c 2781 KENSINGTON. Anthony J. Hancock = Cicely J.E. Romanis</ref> a [[Lanvin (clothing)|Lanvin]] model,<ref>Sir Reginald E.W. Harland [https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-mod-and-coroners-800228.html "Letters: MoD and coroners"], ''The Independent'', 25 March 2008</ref> after a brief courtship.

[[Freddie Ross Hancock|Freddie Ross]] worked as his publicist from 1954 and became more involved in his life, eventually becoming his mistress. He divorced Cicely in 1965 and married Ross in December of that year.<ref>GRO Register of Marriages: DEC 1965 5D 1664 ST MARYLEBONE - Anthony J. Hancock = Freda (Freddie) Ross</ref> This second marriage was short-lived. During these years Hancock was also involved with [[Joan Le Mesurier]] (née Malin), the new wife of actor [[John Le Mesurier]], Hancock's best friend and a regular supporting character-actor from his television series. Joan was later to describe the relationship in her book ''Lady Don't Fall Backwards'',<ref>[http://home.btconnect.com/howejam/dadsarmy/books/bio_jlm_lady.htm ''Lady Don't Fall Backwards''] by Joan Le Mesurier (ISIS, 1990, {{ISBN|1-85089-406-X}})</ref> including the claim that her husband readily forgave the affair; he is quoted as saying that if it had been anyone else he would not have understood it, but with Tony Hancock it made sense. In July 1966 Freddie took an overdose but survived. Arriving in [[Blackpool]] to record an edition of his variety series, Hancock was met by pressmen asking about his wife's attempted suicide. The final dissolution of the marriage took place a few days before Hancock's own suicide.<ref>John Fisher, ''Tony Hancock : the Definitive Biography'', London : HarperCollins, 2008, pp474-5</ref>

Cicely developed her own problems with alcohol and died from a fall in 1969, the year after the death of her former husband. Freddie Hancock survived her broken marriage and resumed her career as a prominent publicist and agent in the film and television industry. Based in [[New York City]] for many years, she founded the East Coast chapter of BAFTA, the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]].

== Death ==
Hancock took his own life by overdosing, in Sydney, on 25 June 1968, aged 44.<ref>{{cite news |last= Sommerlad |first= Joe |date= 27 June 2018 |title= Tony Hancock 50 years on: How the legendary British comedian paved the way for Alan Partridge and David Brent |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/tony-hancock-50th-anniversary-bbc-comedy-alan-partridge-david-brent-sid-james-a8415241.html |work= The Independent |access-date= 20 January 2021}}</ref> He was found dead in his [[Bellevue Hill, New South Wales|Bellevue Hill]] flat with an empty vodka bottle and a scattering of [[Amobarbital|amylo-barbitone]] tablets.<ref name="H&N">''Hancock'' by Freddie Hancock and David Nathan (William Kimber & Co., 1969)</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3626969/Laugh-at-Tony-I-very-nearly-died.html |title=Laugh at Tony? I very nearly died |author=Craig, Olga |date=10 November 2004 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=5 July 2010 | location=London}}</ref>

In one of his suicide notes he wrote: "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times."<ref>John Fisher, ''Tony Hancock : the Definitive Biography'', London : HarperCollins, 2008, p.469</ref> His ashes were brought back to England by satirist [[Willie Rushton]]<ref>Fisher, p.484</ref> and were buried in St Dunstan's Church in [[Cranford, London]].

Asked by [[Van Morrison]] about his relationship with Hancock, [[Spike Milligan]] commented in 1989: "Very difficult man to get on with. He used to drink excessively. You felt sorry for him. He ended up on his own. I thought, he's got rid of everybody else, he's going to get rid of himself and he did."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/reviews/1989august.html|title=Blind Date! The Day Van Morrison met... Spike Milligan!? August 1989 Q Magazine interview 'written down by' Paul Du Noyer.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107084853/http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/reviews/1989august.html|archive-date=7 January 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Hancock Grave.JPG|right|thumb|Plaque at St Dunstan's Church, Cranford]] -->

== Legacy ==
[[File:Tony Hancock in Old Square Birmingham.jpg|right|thumb|Statue in [[Old Square, Birmingham]]]]
[[File:Hancockplaque.jpg|right|thumb|Commemorative plaque at the foot of the Birmingham statue]]
There is a sculpture by Bruce Williams (1996) in his honour in [[Old Square]], [[Corporation Street, Birmingham|Corporation Street]], Birmingham, a plaque on the house where he was born in [[Hall Green]], Birmingham, and a plaque on the wall of the hotel in Bournemouth where he spent some of his early life. There is also a plaque, placed by the Dead Comics Society, at 10 Grey Close, [[Hampstead Garden Suburb]], London, where he lived in 1947 and 1948.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk/page786.html|title=Tony Hancock 1|work=plaquesoflondon.co.uk}}</ref> In 2014, an [[English Heritage]] [[blue plaque]] was placed to commemorate Hancock at 20 Queen's Gate Place in South Kensington, London, where he lived between 1952 and 1958.<ref name='EngHet'>{{cite web| url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/hancock-tony-1924-1968|title=HANCOCK, TONY (1924-1968)|publisher=English Heritage| access-date=1 January 2018}}</ref>

In a 2002 poll, BBC radio listeners voted Hancock their favourite British comedian.<ref name="poll2002">{{cite news|last=Morrison|first=James|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/stone-me-hancock-voted-top-british-comedian-136080.html|title=Stone me! Hancock voted top British comedian|work=The Independent on Sunday|date=15 December 2002|access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref> Commenting on this poll, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson observed that modern-day creations such as [[Alan Partridge]] and [[David Brent]] owed much of their success to mimicking dominant features of Tony Hancock's character. "The thing they've all got in common is self-delusion," they remarked, in a statement issued by the BBC. "They all think they're more intelligent than everyone else, more cultured, that people don't recognise their true greatness – self-delusion in every sense. And there's nothing people like better than failure." Mary Kalemkerian, Head of Programmes for BBC 7, commented: "Classic comedians such as Tony Hancock and [[the Goons]] are obviously still firm favourites with BBC radio listeners. Age doesn't seem to matter – if it's funny, it's funny." Dan Peat of the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society said of the poll: "It's fantastic news. If he was alive, he would have taken it one of two ways. He would probably have made some kind of dry crack, but in truth he would have been chuffed."<ref name="poll2002"/>

The last eight or so years of Hancock's life were the subject of a BBC1 television film, called ''Hancock'' (1991), starring [[Alfred Molina]]. Another drama, ''[[Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!]]'' (BBC Four, 2006), saw [[Martin Trenaman]] play the role of Hancock with [[Michael Sheen]] as Williams. Hancock's affair with Joan Le Mesurier was also dramatised in ''[[Hancock and Joan]]'' on [[BBC Four]] and transmitted in 2008 as part of the 'Curse of Comedy' season. Hancock was portrayed by [[Ken Stott]] and Joan by [[Maxine Peake]].

Musician [[Pete Doherty]] is a fan of Hancock and named the first album by his band [[the Libertines]] ''[[Up the Bracket]]'' after one of Hancock's catchphrases. He also wrote a song called "Lady Don't Fall Backwards" after the book at the centre of the ''Hancock's Half Hour'' episode "[[The Missing Page]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/babyshambles-409-1360455 |title=NME report of Doherty's tribute |publisher=Nme.com |date=2005-12-21 |access-date=2018-01-01}}</ref> Hancock is also referenced in the lyrics to The  Libertines’ 2015 song "You're My Waterloo ".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/The-libertines-youre-my-waterloo-lyrics|title=The Libertines – You're My Waterloo|via=genius.com}}</ref>

[[Paul Merton]], in 1996, appeared in remakes of six of Galton and Simpson's ''Hancock'' scripts, which were not critically well received. In 2014, five of the wiped radio instalments of ''Hancock's Half Hour'', chosen by Galton and Simpson, were re-staged for BBC Radio 4 under the umbrella title ''The Missing Hancocks'', with [[Kevin McNally]] taking the title role.

Playwright Roy Smiles' play about Tony Hancock: ''The Lad Himself'', was staged at the Edinburgh Festival in 2013 with Mark Brailsford as Tony Hancock.  

=== Recordings ===
Episodes and anthologies from the radio series were released on vinyl [[LP record|LP]] in the 1960s, as well as four re-makes of television scripts; an annual LP was issued of radio episodes (without the incidental music) between 1980 and 1984. Much of this material was also available on [[Compact Cassette|cassette]] in later years.

The [[BBC]] issued [[Compact disc|CDs]] of the surviving 74 radio episodes in six box sets, one per series, with the sixth box containing several out-of-series specials. This was followed by the release of one large box set containing all the others in a special presentation case; while it includes no extra material, the larger box alone (without any CDs) still fetches high prices on online marketplaces like [[eBay]], where Hancock memorabilia remains a thriving industry. There have also been numerous [[VHS]] releases of the BBC television series.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}}

While five separate [[DVD#Region codes|Region 2]] DVDs were previously issued, some of the surviving episodes were unavailable until ''The Tony Hancock BBC Collection'' (eight DVDs) appeared in 2007. Episodes of the radio series are often broadcast on the digital radio station [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]].

=== Film appearances ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1954|| ''[[Orders Are Orders]]'' || Lt. Wilfred Cartroad ||
|-
|1961|| ''[[The Rebel (1961 film)|The Rebel]]'' || Anthony Hancock || US title: ''Call Me Genius''
|-
|1963|| ''[[The Punch and Judy Man]]'' || Wally Pinner ||
|-
|1965|| ''[[Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines]]'' || Harry Popperwell ||
|-
|1966|| ''[[The Wrong Box]]'' || Detective ||
|}

== Biographies ==
* David Nathan and Freddie Hancock ''Hancock'', (1969 [1996]), William Kimber, BBC Consumer Publishing, {{ISBN|0-563-38761-0}}
* Roger Wilmut ''Tony Hancock: 'Artiste', A Tony Hancock Companion'', 1978, Eyre Methuen - with full details of Hancock's stage, radio, TV and film appearances.
* Edward Joffe ''Hancock's Last Stand: The Series That Never Was'', June 1998, foreword by [[June Whitfield]], Book Guild Ltd Publishing, {{ISBN|1-85776-316-5}} - an account of Hancock's final days, written by the man who found Hancock's body after his suicide.
* Cliff Goodwin ''When the Wind Changed: The Life and Death of Tony Hancock'', 2000, Arrow - an extended, comprehensive biography.
* John Fisher ''Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography'', 2008, Harper, {{ISBN|0-00-726677-4}}

== Film biographies ==
* ''Omnibus: Hancock'' (1985): a BBC documentary which seriously looked at Hancock's life and work, and his legacy. With contributions by [[Beryl Vertue]], [[Galton & Simpson]], [[Bill Kerr]] and producers [[Dennis Main Wilson]] and [[Duncan Wood]].
* ''Hancock'' (1991): a ''Screen One'' production, broadcast on [[BBC One]] and starring [[Alfred Molina]]
* ''[[Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!]]'' (2006): a [[BBC Four]] drama about [[Kenneth Williams]], featuring [[Martin Trenaman]] as Hancock
* ''[[Hancock and Joan]]'' (2008): a BBC Four drama, starring [[Ken Stott]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7109236.stm | work=BBC News | title=Stott takes lead in Hancock drama | date=23 November 2007}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{IMDb name|0359437}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0207504|title=Hancock (1991)}}
* [http://www.tonyhancockarchives.ajhw.co.uk/ Tony Hancock Archives website]
* [http://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/ Tony Hancock Appreciation Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120207072416/http://www.howardm.net/hancock/tony.php The Original Tony Hancock website]
* [http://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/tragedy-and-talent-tony-hancock-profiled Tony Hancock profiled at British Classic Comedy]
* [https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50050/culture_arts_and_heritage/190/statues_and_public_art/10 Hancock in Birmingham]
* [http://www.durlstoncourt.co.uk/History-of-Durlston-Court Photo of Tony Hancock, Durlston Court]
* [http://www.galtonandsimpson.com/ Ray Galton and Alan Simpson; Official website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009t2ld Hancock's Half Hour radio show on Radio 4 Extra (listen again available)]
* [http://www.colinbrockhurst.co.uk/the-cream-of-philosophical-chat-tony-hancock-on-the-radio/547/ The Cream of Philosophical Chat] - Tony Hancock on the Radio {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223215034/http://www.colinbrockhurst.co.uk/the-cream-of-philosophical-chat-tony-hancock-on-the-radio/547/|date=23 February 2012}}

{{Authority control}}

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